Close and Far

I don't know about you, but my understanding of proximity is undergoing a definitional realignment.

When I was a kid, nearness was always a geographical thing. People talked to people who were nearby.

We COULD talk to folks who were far removed; we did have long distance telephoning -- but that was limited to very special occasions (births, deaths, etc) and everyone knew to talk very fast indeed because the per/minute rate was a king's ransome.

We had reunions once a year to catch up on what was happening with relatives. If we lived in different towns, it was the only time we conversed. Some people wrote letters in between reunions, but that was usually done by grandmothers who had lots of time on their hands.

Now life is very different. I find that I am close to people who use the communications tools available to us. People who email or use that ubitquitous cell phone are immediate in my experience.

At the same time, a person three offices down from mine with whom I do not exchange email might just as well be several states removed.

Somehow the definitions of proximity and nearness have changed. I wonder what the ripple effect of that will be?